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Review: ‘Revival’ #5

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There’s no doubt that Revival is an intelligent, promising series from Image Comics. The pseudo-zombie drama has a unique approach to its subject and characters, with sharp dialogue and good art to boot. However, it has a tendency to overwhelm its narrative with too many intersecting plotlines, resulting in uncertain character motivations and muddled plot progressions. Unfortunately, “Revival” #5 succumbs to these flaws.

WRITTEN BY: Tim Seeley
ART BY: Mike Norton
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE DATE: November 21st, 2012

One thing “Revival” does right is dialogue – and by extension, characterization. All of the characters are strong, with their own personalities and motivations. They have their own voices, and all of them provide insight into who they are and why they are doing what they’re doing. Most of it is fairly enjoyable to read as well, particularly the scenes involving “demonologist” and Limp Bizkit fan, Blain Abel. The characters also provide intelligent commentary on the events surrounding them, and encourage you to invest in the plot.

However, that plot is difficult to follow. There are a number of threads in “Reviver”, many of them still in their infancy, so it’s understandable that Tim Seeley feels their inclusion is necessary. And in this issue, we’re introduced to two new characters – well, arguably just one, though the identity of the ghost from issues past is sort of revealed. However, it’s still uncertain how these characters actually relate to the core group.

The other issue is that there are too many subplots for any of them to shine. Dana discovers Em’s inappropriate past with her English professor. Jamie Hettinga gets a creepy letter after her step-brother (and romantic partner) has been disemboweled. Em and May flee from Blaine on snow mobiles after Em has an encounter with the ghost. Ibrahaim Ramin gets a call from his former girlfriend informing him the CDC intends to quarantine the revivers. I get that this is all necessary for whatever Seeley has in store, but it needs to be communicated more effectively. We’re left with moments of good dialogue and some good action here, but not with much plot progression.

Mike Norton’s art, as usual, is quality. There’s nothing flashy about his stuff, but he gets the job done and tells a story well. The man can draw action, emotion, gore and whatever the script calls for, and for that he should be commended. His art is more consistent than the storytelling in this issue.

Still, all that said, I’m not down on the series. I have a feeling when it picks up the pace and the characters are more fully fleshed out, the story-telling will become less cluttered and more in-depth. When that happens, this will be one of the better series Image is producing.

2.5/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – George Shunick

Comics

[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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